And it is confirmed...

Ainsley Mae

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Thursday at 4

We should know for sure if it's a boy or a girl!
Either way, Harry has started talking to his "sister" already...and making silly faces. After all, that's what big brothers do to make babies smile.

AFP is normal.

Some people (Ed) were worried.

I'm so angry!

Tonight is the first PAB/PTA meeting at Abracadabra (the last one was orientation). There is a Potluck, on the playground outside, no less, and a Pajama party for the kids during the meeting. I understand some people might fake the flu to get out of such a thing...but I WANT TO GO! And I have the freakin' flu....STILL!!!! Google tells me it can last far beyond 48 hours.
I've waited at least 4 years for this. It's so not fair!

Gobble Gobble Giggle

We will most likely be spending Thanksgiving at home this year. I guess that's why I had a dream last night about dressing a turkey. Needless to say, it had on the cutest little pilgrim costume, complete with hat.

Jenny McCarthy

I guess I am slow, but I just learned Jenny McCarthy's kid is autistic. I read all of her books (well, there were two) when I was pregnant with Harry and they were the only ones that were helpful and normal. The only ones. The Girlfriends Guide gave me hives.
Anyway, after bonding with Jenny (not a word I use lightly) I was devastated to learn she divorced (a few years ago) and now I am so sad about her son. I've read a lot about autism, and it is not a death sentence by any means. But still...I am just very lucky Harry is the precocious little freak that he is.

It's Okay

Harry does have friends. Apparently Angus is his buddy. And Lucy. And he's mentioned Mo before. She's a girl.
Whatever happened to "Michael" and "Jennifer" (says the person leaning towards "Max" and "Ainsley"). Eh. It's fun. I was 1 of 5 Kim's on my cheerleading squad alone. There were 12 of us. Besides, you can only have so many friends named Dominic.

Harry'S Quote of the Day

To Infinity and Beyond!

Harry's favorite new toy is a "big" Buzz Lightyear that Kevin got at McDonald's about 12 years ago. It says "Kev" on the bottom, but Harry thinks it says "Har-ri-son!"

Boys and Girls

I've been worried Harry hasn't been making friends at school. He LOVES LOVES LOVES his daycare friends (maybe Kevin can add a picture from our last playdate) and his cousins and Nicholas down the street...and Hannah and Ledi...but I haven't seen him interact with the kids in his class. I mean, it's a small room, and they are on top of each other like salmon, but not the same interaction. Well, outside yesterday, there were two classes...that should have been 30 kids but it seemed like 20. Anyway, the boys were scattered. Harry was playing with a truck so I had a few minutes to check things out. The boys would pass each other and talk, grunt, show off a truck or a water cooler....whatever. The girls, however, started out in a pile of 5 under a tree in the shade. By the time I left, I think there were about 12. I think all of the girls were sitting quietly and chatting. The boys moved about zooming and grunting. Boys are odd.

Just to eliminate any confusion...

The young McDermott boy who got his Crocs caught in a Metro escalator in Virginia, was NOT our Harry.

Thanks though to all who have expressed concern...

Crocs, kids and escalators a bad combination?

Harry's Quote of the Day

Everyone needs their Mommies and their Daddies...and their Meghans.

Mr. Sam told Kevin

Harry's new favorite book is Harold and the Purple Crayon. It's all he wants to read, and he sleeps with it at naptime!
Harry has changed so much in the 8 days he has been in preschool. He's less moody like he was leading up to it. The sparkle is back in his eye. He's more imaginative. I think, if it's possible, he's even more verbal. He just talks and talks...to himself, to his toys, to us. He is a very fun conversationalist and I always like to hear what's on his mind. He remembers everything (looks like I am stuck going on a metro ride to nowhere Saturday) and he applies what he's learned. It's really neat. Not new, but even neater.
Funniest thing he said today, with a straight face and enthusiasm: I eat everything!
He was so serious! And so full of it.
Funniest thing I heard this week from someone other than Harry, that fits in nicely with his comment: He's like a 6 year old with no parents eating ice cream and ketchup every night for dinner. (from House).

Pink and Green

I went out! Yaaay me! I made it to a FIT/unFIT celebrations party. I was part of the celebration (we all were) so I kind of had to go, plus I needed to. Saw a bunch of old work out buddies/friends. It was fun...and I think I am returning to FIT at 5:45 AM on April 1. Not sure when my first race will be, but plan to do Quantico (they got rid of the hills!) next September.

Also ran into Judy of Ultrasound Associates who says "If they said it's a girl (at 13 weeks, 5 days) then it's a girl." Cool.

Vitamin D is not found in breast milk

Without it you will get cancer and die.

Come in Shop Happy

One of my favorite things to do with Harry is shop. He likes buying stuff as much as I do!
Today, I picked him up from school. He greeted me, had his backpack on, and said goodbye to every teacher in the building, even those "teaching" class, before I could even grab today's artwork.
I had to stop at FedEx Kinko's to ship my computer to work for upgrades. Harry entertained himself at the vending machine buying lemonade, not just for himself, but a separate one for Daddy, and a water for me. Harry was very generous with my $3.75.
We then chatted with the FedEx guy about his boxes and the heat, looked at the flowers and the fountain and decided to go to Trader Joe's. Harry is the most fun to shop with. He goes down every aisle willingly, and does all of the work (which, of course, adds work for me - but it's getting better). Harry grabbed a cart, helped himself to two bushels (?) of bananas, then agreed we needed blueberries and watermelon. It's fun to discuss these things with him. He helped me pick out tortilla chips for a party, added some cookies for himself, and then proceeded to put all of the items on the counter, correctly, while I searched for my wallet in my big but empty purse that I can never find anything in...except cars and crayons. Harry also wanted flowers, but my hands and bags were full, so he agreed to wait.
After watching the parking lot gates go up too many times to hold my attention, we headed home to find Kevin already there. And guess who else was there? Snoedel! Harry said after 5 days he no longer needed Snoedel at school so he brought him home. Interesting. I suspect today's meatball incident with the caterer that left everyone enjoying PB& J instead of un-refrigerated meatball subs was a major contributing factor in Harry's turning the corner at Abra. The best part of his day even? "Going to school!"

it's finally official

Harry hates me.

He told me so, straight to my face. Repeatedly, and deliberately.

Apparently I never let him do anything...

How about a quick look back at the weekend that was, and how I/we never let Harry do anything:

Friday:
Friday was actually a HUGE day in Harry's book as far as I'm concerned. For hose of you who haven't been following along, Harry began his next phase of education beginning a pre-school this past week. I'm thinking it was probably good to start it on a 4-day week, or maybe just luck of the draw. Regardless, as we expected the first few days were rough, much crying and clinging ensued, but in Harry's defense, things got progressively not-so-bad as the week went on.

That is until Friday's marked improvement.

Harry started off with what had become his typical matter-of-fact adimission that he really thoguth it would be best if he stayed home, but ever so slightly less so. No tears today, just a big lower lip (Magoo knows where he gets this from...). Somewhere during the quick ride down the hill, the tables turned. WHen we arrived, Harry walked across the parking lot (usually this is where the clinging begins), skipped across the kids tiles to the gate, and walked right in... himself. We signed in, went upstairs to hang his bag on his hook, and he even said he wanted to go back down to the first floor.

You can imagine my surprise, as this is where we had quickly adopted a routine with Ms. Diane; she'd grab her coffee, set herself down on one of the tyke-sized chairs, I'd plop Harry down for some solid cry-time (which I was later reassured that was only for my benefit -- he was apparently fine after I left). However, this time, he went over to Ms Diane to offer that he wasn't going to cry today, and I headed out, only to be met in the schoolyard by an enthsiastic knock on the window and a huge grinning wave from Harry.

What a way to start your day!

Friday evening brought us back to our weekly visit to Generous George's for some positive pizza and pasta, only after a brief encounter with Ms Anita next door, so Harry could let her know where we were headed.

After coming home, Harry spotted one of his own across the street at the playground, and proceeded to yell his name (at a dead sprint no less) from our yard, across the street, through the parking lot, into and across the park. TJ's a great kid, but I don't think he's totally bought into the hero-worship he gets whenever Harry sees him.

After many races on the slide (up and down), some serious swinging, and general running-around, Harry finally made it home and to bed. out like a light.

Saturday
Saturday n with some splitting up. Kim headed off to Abra for an orientation session to get the real-er scoop on everything, while I went with Harry to his new Little Gym session. This one's also a new phase for him, as all of the previous ones had been with the parent(s) in the room participating with the kids. Now he's considered a big kid, and class is just for them, we get to sit outside of the glass and watch. It's like having been the assistant coach for 3 years, down on the bench, fully involved in helping make things happen, and then suddenly watching the game at a bar, with the sound off.

Needless to say, I thought he did GREAT. I was mostly impressed that he appeared to listen to directions for the entire hour, and even performed some of the skills successfully, that he'd been having trouble with in the past (somersaults in particular).

We headed home to a house full of Kim's formerly-FIT friends who were all over for lunch. Recall earlier, neighbor TJ's discomfort with his pedestal position? Ledi on the other hand, relishes in it in the best possible way. She seems to love that Harry follows her every word and action, and he loves doing it. About halfway through the afternoon, Ledi switched spots with her older sister Hannah. The 2 of them run at even money for the coolest kids in the world in Harry's book, so he didn't miss a step. Time spent with everything from demonstrating his own video games, to hockey & basketball in the basement.

Lunch ended and Harry finally took a nap, only to be met on the front porch by another front-runner in his hall-of-fame, and Abra Alum, Nicholas. They played on the porch, chalk-drew on the porch, you name it... finally again, off to bed.

Sunday
Another big day on Sunday. Starts off with fresh pancakes and fruit for breakfast, and many work phone calls for me. Bide our time with as much away from the TV as possible for a Sunday morning, and head off for the last day of the season at the pool. Harry spent the vast majority of his time, as he is wont to do, getting others to watch as he jumps off the side, puts his face under and blows bubbles, and floating on his back, feet kicking furiously. The side conversations that tend to follow usually go something like this... "see how that boy just jumps right in?" and "he just puts his face right in... you try."

Satisfied with his pool time for the day, and sounding hungry, we headed home, only to find that the DOmino's man had already been through, and he proceeded to wolf down 2 slices, only to be met on the porch again, by Nicholas. Back across the street to the park, for more climbing, sliding, racing, swinging, monkey-bar-ing, etc. Luckily (you pick for whom), some other kids came looking for Nicholas, as we headed out for Harry's pre-scheduled playdate with all of the kids from Menike's.

Kim has mentioned before, that when these kids all meet up, they play HARD. By hard, they go non-stop for the entire time. By non-stop, I mean running... everywhere. After about 2 hours of us getting tired just watching, we headed home for a quick dinner interrupted by several "911" calls from work, and an even quicker tub (sans just one show before bed).

Cue the screaming, then the sniveling, then the whimpering pout, and then the denoument:

Lower lip out, brow furrowed...

"i hate you daddy."

"you do? do you know what that means?"

"no... i hate you daddy"

sure you do dude...

You're going to be a big brother soon.

"Almost. It's my dream."
Today, about 5:45PM

Munchkins and Wizards and Genies Oh My!

Harry's quote of the day: "I'm a Lizard."

Fact of Life

Women shop for strollers the way men shop for cars.
After months of drooling over bugaboos, I decided on a very stylish Peg Perego Pliko P3 for Max/Ainsley. It has everything I need, including a foot stand for Master Harrison to ride on on the way back from preschool. It's the same model and color as Aidan's, but she approved the purchase.
True, I gave away the much loathed Graco stroller that I bought for Harry. I HATED it. I even deleted it from May's baby registry, I hated it so much. We did still have the carseat, which we had loaned to Bryan, which he took upon himself to loan to the rest of the world. It was not returned in a condition I found to be usable. In fact, Goodwill wouldn't even accept it. It's currently waiting in the driveway for the cleaning people to take away.
Since the cleaning people think I am their friend now, they are once again making offers of cleaning the house for cheaper on their own. No thank you. I REALLY prefer to deal with a company. I am not good enough at ordering people around to deal with individuals. It ends up being bad. They break things accidentally and "oh, it's okay." I give them baby gifts and paid vacations. Presents. It doesn't end. I do imagine I'd make a terrible queen. Tascha (Backyardigans reference) may love being a princess, but in truth I am not so good at it.
Anyway...off to pick up Wizard Harry now. He matter-of-factly stated he was not going to school today, but ended up at Abracadabra anyway. Luckily, he was one of teh first five kids there, so I hope that helped. I don't want to leave him there too long if he is miserable, but I have a sneaking suspicion I am going to show up while he is at teh sand table and yell at me for coming to early.

Oh, Kevin...

Ann Taylor now has a maternity devision.